I've played
WWGH 4 times now and here is my review:
Note: I had planned, to ditch my tGtBatU format, but starting with this game? Not really
The Good:
- Style
It's a Western game and I am greeted by a cool country tune, a custom menu with a Western-style font and a costum hud. Could I ask for more? Apparently yes, because the voiceovers come with an accent as thick as baked beans coocked on a campfire and offer sentences like "Well...I guess it's easier takin' than makin'…"
- Media
For once it's not CP's Landscape Kit. Nothing against it, but it's not the ideal choice for
every kind of level, especially when you need NPCs to freely move across the map. It’s apparently MP 55 that's used and it does a terrific job. And of course we have the developers own spectacular Western characters and weapons - a Western Rifle & Pistol perfectly rigged to EAI's Hands (in stylish brown leather gloves) with adequate reload animations. In addition we also get an MP 54-style hand-held map (rigged also to EAI’s hands - I’d buy that in an instant!) The only thing not 100% accurate is the small shack in the middle of nowhere built from bricks instead of wood.
Gameplay
- We get an ingame-intro with some text, a cutscene with voiceover and a small 1st level with a shooting range and an additional conversation (more of a voiceover) - complete with a believable transition to the 2nd level where we then get gunfights, a little searching and an (easy) riddle. All that with short loading times and a steady framerate of 55+
The Bad:
- Enemy AI
The bad guys must have been recruited directly from a Bud Spencer & Terrence Hill Spaghetti Western, because even “cannonfodder” would be a flattering description. They can easily be shot from the far end of the map and when they finally start to approach, it’s easy to hit them numerous times before they return fire. Which is most unfortunate because with the rifle you only need a single shot...
- Environment
While the media is top, the map is not. We have a campfire with nothing to accompany it. No equipment, no containers, not even a log or stone to sit upon. There is also a barren digging site that cries out for a pick, a shovel and some wooden beams. And we have a shack with just the props necessary for the story but no bed, no containers, no additional “stuff”.
- On a minor scale is, that the pick-up sound for the dead men’s weapons is the reloading sound.
The Ugly:
- Weapon Details
I know there are limitations to both player hands rigging and NPC stock animations - but Cowboys wielding their single Peacemakers with both hands…? Ouch! I’d prefer to have everybody equipped with rifles then. I also dearly missed an ironsight for the rifle and found that the revolver was useless due to ½(?) damage and 1/3 magazine size compared to the rifle.
- Voiceover Quality
Generally the voiceovers where hard to understand which did spoil the fun a lot – especially when playing the game for the very first time.
Spoiler:
I could easily avoid moving through the quarry(?) in jumping to the ledge on the left side - I doubt this is intentional.
On a side note, I have to admit that based on the 1st post I am not sure how much of the story is new&original and how much is borrowed from the game mentioned by the developer. In any case I generally like it and the the poem at the end is really funny.
On my personal demo-scale it’s a well earned 3.5 out of 5 and I’d call it “A fun little demo that could become one of the rare FPSC games, that plays in bright sunlight and actually tries to entertain the player instead of just impressing him.”
In case you find my grammar and spelling weird ---> native German speaker ^^
